Lighthouse Assault
by Gogeta Uzumaki
Summary: Five years after the Golden Sun event, the Warriors of Vale of formed a guild and must protect the world from destruction. Warning: extreme language and lemons
1. Lighthouse Assault

Isaac and Jenna had just arrived on the Tolbi side of the Karagol Sea. They'd been away from Tolbi for about a month now, but Isaac still didn't miss the noise of Gondowan's biggest city. As they made the short walk from the docks to Tolbi, they noticed more and more people pointing at them and coming up to get a better look. The events of the Golden Sun five years ago were common knowledge now and most of the world looked to the Warriors of Vale as equals to the Wise One.

About a year after the Golden Sun, people had started traveling from far and wide, seeking the Warriors' help. They decided that this was the best way they could help all of Weyard and soon after, they had formed the guild _'The Golden Sun._' The guild was established in Tolbi since tons of people flocked to Tolbi for Colosso anyway and within a month, everyone in Weyard knew where to go if they had trouble. _The Golden Sun's_ reputation spread like wild fire and soon it seemed like as soon as one mission was completed, another was there to take its place.

It soon became obvious that there was very little space for downtime, so Mia was forced to open her own branch of _The Golden Sun _up north near Imil. Piers had left to help her with her duties and in an attempt to give help before it was needed, Ivan traveled the world as a nomad. Keeping in touch wasn't a problem though; Ivan learned that Djinn could be used as messengers and they were much faster than a human courier. This was also how jobs were sent to the guild. Each town was given one Djinni so that they could quickly ask for help from the guild. Once the message was received, a Warrior would send a reply accepting or denying the request and they'd be off.

Back in the crowded streets of Tolbi, Isaac and Jenna merged with the flow of people and were glad that people stopped pointing. The main focus of the city was this year's Colosso. Apparently there was a surprise this year that had still yet to be announced. They moved through the crowds easily, Isaac occasionally casting the Psynergy Move on people not paying attention and soon came to _The Golden Sun's _headquarters. It was a large, two story stone building with large double oak doors and a thick thatch roof. A chimney poked through the roof at each end of the building and a balcony ran along the exterior on the second floor. A sign hung above the door that read _The Golden Sun_ in black letters superimposed over a large yellow circle. Isaac smiled at the sign. Garet had been against this name favoring _The Psynergy Heroes_, but he'd been outvoted. He pushed open the door and he and Jenna walked into their guild.

It was a homely kind of place. Fires burned cheerily in the two fireplaces, one containing a large iron pot with what looked like stew in it. Shelves lined the walls and every foot or so was a label with a town's name on it. This is where the Djinn would appear if the town had a job for the guild. In the center of the room was a table big enough for ten people to sit at but only two sat there now. Felix and Sheba sat at one end, a stack of papers sitting in front of them. The papers must have been important because neither Felix nor Sheba noticed Isaac and Jenna's arrival.

"What's this?" Isaac asked, looking over Felix's shoulder, "We don't get written requests now do we?"

"No we don't." Felix answered, "This is a request of a different sort. We've been asked to participate in this year's Colosso."

"We what?!" Jenna and Isaac cried in unison as Isaac snatched the paper from Felix. Sure enough it said in black and white that Babi wanted _The Golden Sun _to participate in the Colosso. "How long until it starts?"

"A week." Sheba said curtly.

"That gives us time to train." Isaac said going back for his armor and weapons.

"Isaac, we just got back!" Jenna snapped at him. "Can't we relax for a bit?"

Isaac stopped and looked at Jenna. Something about her tone made Isaac think that she didn't have 'rest' on her mind. He gave her a smirk and said, "Why don't you go draw the bath. I'll be there in a minute." Jenna gave Isaac a little wink and disappeared upstairs.

"Could you be a little more obvious next time?" Felix said with a smirk.

"Shut up, what are we looking at for prize money?" Isaac asked. _Golden Sun _didn't charge for their services, knowing that some towns had very little in the way of money so they accepted donations or whatever the town considered valuable. Doing business this way meant the budget was very tight.

"The winner gets one million coins, runner up gets a hundred thousand, and semi-finalists get a piece of gear." Felix read from another paper.

"A million!? That'd help us out for sure!" Isaac said, feeling more and more excited.

"Yes it definitely would."

"Have you told the others?"

"I sent one of my Djinn to Mia and contacted Ivan telepathically." Sheba said quietly.

"Excellent." Isaac said. "Colosso, huh? Sure is nostalgic."

Isaac climbed the stairs two at a time and came to the second floor. The second floor had four rooms, each with a large basin for baths, a bed and a wardrobe. Isaac knocked on his and Jenna's door and entered after he heard Jenna say to come in. What he found didn't disappoint him. Jenna had already filled the basin and by the look of it, had used her Psynergy to heat the water. She sat in the basin, the water hardly covering her breasts and she was wearing her 'come get me' look. Isaac slowly slipped out of his clothes, teasing Jenna with every article until he was naked as the day he was born and then slid into the water with Jenna. In an instant she'd moved so that she was sitting on Isaac's lap with her legs wrapped around his back and her mouth clamped over his. Isaac moaned into Jenna's mouth and his hands began to move up and down her muscular back. After a while Jenna finally released Isaac from her kiss and leaned back a little, completely exposing her breasts. Isaac reached up and gently began to massage them as Jenna came back in for another kiss. For a while they just held each other as they kissed, but then Jenna broke the kiss again and gave Isaac a sultry look, "What did you think of that?"

"I think we're only getting started." Isaac said pushed Jenna so that he was on top of her. Her happy giggles soon turned to moans of pleasure as Isaac's tongue began to trace circles around Jenna's nipple while his hand slid down her body to between her legs. Her body began to convulse with pleasure as Isaac's strong fingers explored the depths of her body. Her nails raked across his back, leaving red lines as her pleasure came closer to its peak. She moaned even louder as Isaac slipped another finger inside of her and she felt her body growing hotter and hotter with every caress. Her moans drove Isaac wild and he moved to kiss her again, but at that moment, her body reached climax, causing the water around her to boil. Her Psynergy was going crazy, but as her pleasure began to subside, she regained control of it, leaving the two feeling even steamier than before.

Felix awoke the next morning still feeling drowsy. Isaac's room was across the hall from his and the walls weren't very think so he and Sheba had been able to hear everything. For some reason that had put Sheba in the mood and it had turned into a contest between the two couples. Felix was pretty sure he'd won and he looked down and smiled at the still sleeping Sheba. She was shy in public, but behind closed doors, she was completely different. He stroked her blonde hair and gently kissed her cheek before getting out of bed and getting dressed.

When he finally came down stairs, he found Isaac with a cup of coffee at the big center table. They shared a look of mutual challenge and silently declared victory for himself. Isaac poured Felix a cup and he took a long drink as both girls came walking down the stairs slightly bow-legged. The two men shared another look and then laughed as their respective girlfriend kissed him good morning. For a while everything was quiet and romantic, and then the door got kicked in.

"GOOD MORNING _GOLDEN SUN_!" a voice roared from the door.

"Hey, Garet." Isaac moaned as they all squinted through the morning sun streamed in through the door. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"I met the love of my life last night!" Garet proclaimed loudly.

"Really? Who is it today?" Felix said sarcastically.

"Shut up. Welcome back by the way, Isaac."

"Thanks. Check this out." Isaac said and tossed Colosso request at Garet.

His eyes grew bigger with every word until he looked up at Isaac and said, "When do we start training?"

The next few days were full of early mornings and late nights as the five Adepts trained and sparred with each other. Isaac and Jenna felt a little rusty the first since they'd spent a relaxing month in Vale, but soon they were back in the rhythm of fighting and feeling stronger than ever. Then on the fourth day of training, Sheba's Djinn came back with the message from Mia and Piers: 'We're on our way.' With the thought of their friends only days away, training intensified and soon the five were feeling invincible. It seemed that the whole world was anxious about this year's Colosso since they didn't receive one job during their training days. Finally it was the last day before Colosso and of course Isaac couldn't sleep. He lay awake reliving the last time he was at Colosso. He'd had his friends' help to make it through the obstacles faster last time…but this time was different. He was older, smarter, and stronger. There was no way he was going to lose.

The day of Colosso couldn't have looked any better; clear blue skies, warm sun and cool breeze. It was the perfect day for a festival. Isaac and the rest of the guild made their way steadily through the crowds and soon were at the registration booth. The lady behind the counter took one look at them and waved them through. Garet seemed most pleased with this, happy to be recognized by anyone for his fame (especially a woman). They met a guard who showed them where to go and before they knew it, they were in an underground room surrounded by big burly men in various types of armor. Some were getting in a last minute workout while others seemed content to just sit around and wait for the matches to start. Isaac and his group moved through the crowd of men looking for a place to sit when a familiar voice called out.

"Long time no see, Isaac!"

"Ivan is that you?" Garet called.

"It's all of us, silly." a girl's voice said.

On the other side of the room came Ivan followed by Piers and Mia. The two groups met and the girls gave hugs while the boys clapped each other on the shoulders. They had just begun to swap stories when one of the bigger men shoved his way into their group. His golden reddish armor shined in the torch light and it through what little they could see of his face into deep shadow. A wicked looking spiked mace hung from his hip and a sword was slung over his shoulder.

"I over-heard you talking. Are you the Warriors of Vale?" he spoke in a deep voice that was almost a growl.

"What if we are?" Garet growled back, rubbing his ribs where he'd been shoved.

"I thought that was Isaac." He laughed, "Think you can stay awake this time?"

"I thought that armor looked familiar." Isaac said and the next thing anyone knew, the gladiator had flown across the room and collided with a set of weights. "I guess this time you couldn't stay awake."

"Isaac! What did you-"

"Force Gem." Isaac said simply, digging the gem out of his satchel.

"Ok, I think we should refrain from using Psynergy or Djinn." Ivan suggested tentatively.

"Sounds boring, but you're probably right." Garet agreed.

After that, the other fighters made sure to give the Warriors of Vale the proper respect and after a while, a guard came to give them instructions. He told each fighter to stand in a specific circle and file out in order. The Warriors of Vale were put in the rear and only then did the guard notice the unconscious fighter. He glanced at Isaac who just shrugged and that seemed good enough for the guard. He went back to the front of the line and motioned to the first fighter and lead them out into the arena.

The crowd shouted its applause for the first seven fighters, but as soon as Isaac was seen, the crowd became deafening. All the Warriors waved as they marched out and were lead to the center of the arena where they stopped to face the ruler of Tolbi: Babi. It took a while for the crowd to calm down, but when silence finally fell, Babi rose from his chair and addressed his kingdom.

"As I'm sure you've seen, this year's surprise is that none other than the Warriors of Vale have entered Colosso." He paused to let the crowd scream its enthusiasm. "Hopefully these fine men can at least give these heroes a challenge and give us an amazing show. Now I have one other surprise: there will be no obstacle course this year. Instead we have for your entertainment, a battle royale of sorts. Fighters, take your positions and get ready!"

Babi took his seat once more among the excited chatter of the crowd as the fighters were lead to various places in the arena. Everyone seemed confused as the guards quickly ran for the exits. There was the sound of a large gong and suddenly walls shot up all around the fighters splitting them into groups of two. Isaac looked around and found that he was trapped in a room with one the fighters in armor. This guy's favorite color seemed to be green since there wasn't one piece of gear on him that wasn't green. He looked hesitant, but he rushed Isaac with a small knife. Isaac had to stifle a laugh as he easily dodged the attack and turned to counter, only to have a crossbow pointing at him. He ducked at the last second and managed to dodge, but his scarf was now nailed to the ground. The green fighter took a few steps back and loaded another bolt, but before he could fire it, Isaac had thrown a sleep bomb at his feet. The bomb exploded, but the soldier remained awake, if a little drowsy. This gave Isaac all the time he needed to draw his sword, cut his scarf and roll away from the second bolt. Isaac brought the Gaia Blade up into a defensive posture and rushed the green fighter; he wasn't going to give him time to load another bolt. Isaac closed the distance between them and with a mighty strike to the head, knocked the fighter out cold.

Isaac breathed heavily; he'd almost lost twice already. It was time to get serious. He heard a grinding noise behind him and turn to see Garet standing over a blue fighter. They shared a look and both knew what the other meant: Psynergy was legal in this fight. Isaac thrust his hand forward and vines began to grown from the ground, wrapping around Garet's ankles. Isaac rushed forward to end it in one blow, but Garet merely burn the vines and countered with his Fire Brand. Sparks flew from the blades, but seemed to hover in mid-air. Then Garet shoved back and his Psynergy Heat Wave hit Isaac full in the chest. He back flipped away casting Cure on himself and then unleased Grand Gaia. Garet guarded against it and then cast Guard on himself. Isaac smirked and thrust his sword forward, casting Ragnarok. The giant Psynergy sword tore the ground at Garet's feet asunder and he fell to the ground. He tried to roll away from the next attack, but vines had already trapped him again. With his hands bound, Garet couldn't cast any Psynergy to protect himself and all he could do was watch as Isaac's Clay Spire fell to smash into him.

With Garet knocked out, Isaac had a few seconds to breathe. Only then did he notice that everyone else seemed to have come to the same decision as him and Garet. Lightning struck the ground at two ends of the arena, water could be heard splashing nearby and fire raged on the other side of one wall. Isaac steeled himself for the next fight; which friend would he have to fight next.

The wall to his front began to sink into the ground and none other than Jenna stood there waiting to face him. She stepped over the unconscious form of Ivan and dropped her staff only to replace it with Ivan's light sword: the Kikuichimonji. There was a fire in her eyes that Isaac hadn't seen in at least five years. She thrust her sword forward and a Dragon Plume shot toward Isaac. He rolled forward casting Ragnarok again, but Jenna countered it with a Searing Beam. The attacks exploded in mid-air and Isaac was forced to shield his eyes. When he could see again, Jenna had closed the distance between them and slashed with the light sword. Isaac took the hit hard to the chest and was pushed back, but he was ok. He countered the next blow and casted Grand Gaia. The ground around their feet exploded upward, but Isaac took less damage and managed to land on his feet while Jenna hit the ground hard. He took a moment to heal himself and then muttered his apologies before the final wall came down to reveal Felix.

The two Venus adepts stared at each other and smirked, this was just another contest between them. Felix lashed out first with a Ragnarok, but Isaac countered with one of his own. The giant swords clashed right along with Isaac's Gaia Blade and Felix's Sol Blade. They traded blows each as powerful as the other and matched Psynergy for Psynergy. For each Grand Gaia Isaac cast, Felix would respond with a Quake Sphere. Isaac rushed in with a powerful strike and Felix blocked. They stared into each other's eyes. Both knew the other was fatigued and nearing their limit. Felix gave a mighty push and forced Isaac back a few steps before casting his final Psynergy: Odyssey. Isaac recognized it at the last second and cast Oddesey himself. The ten swords clashed resulting in the largest explosion yet. When the dust finally cleared, Felix was high in the air, a giant ball of Venus Psynergy power balanced on his sword: Megiddo. Isaac knew this power, the power of the Sol Blade. His grip on the Gaia Blade tightened and it began to glow. He launched his weapon's own special move: Titan Blade. A gigantic sword shot out of Isaac's as Megiddo began to fall. The two special attacks collided; the Titan Blade piercing Megiddo all the way to its hilt, but Megiddo was simply too powerful. The giant ball continued to fall toward Isaac and there was nothing he could do. Isaac felt the ground around his feet explode and then there was blackness.

Isaac woke up in a soft, familiar bed. He opened his eyes and found that he was back in his room at the guild. He began to take in his surroundings and he found that Jenna was sitting in a chair next to his bed. She smiled when their eyes met and she leaned down to give him a gentle kiss.

"You fought amazingly." She said softly.

"Even though I lost?"

"Felix said that he could barely stand after pulling off that last attack. Besides, you had to fight me before you took him on. Only makes sense since I gave you a good pounding first."

"Yeah that does make sense." Isaac chuckled. He stretched in bed and then climbed out, feeling incredibly stiff. Jenna put his arm over her shoulders and together they walked downstairs to where the other six were celebrating. A huge pile of money sat on the long table and all around it danced his friends; most with a pint of ale in their hands, Mia, Ivan and Sheba preferring to sip wine. When they caught sight of Isaac three cheers filled the guild and a pint of ale was shoved into Isaac and Jenna's hand. They gladly drank deeply and while Isaac was still too sore to dance, Jenna began to dance with Garet.

"You ok?" Felix asked, plopping into a chair next to Isaac.

"Just a bit stiff." Isaac chuckled, "You really gave me a beating."

"Don't act like you didn't fight with all you had!" Felix cried. "If you'd struck the last hit, it would've been you who won the million coins."

"At least I still got a hundred thousand right?"

"Sure did. Only one of us is allowed to participate next year though."

They both laughed loudly at this and with Felix's help, Isaac got up to join in the dance. Isaac thought that this was the best way to live life: in the company of friends and family, dancing and drinking the night away. All of that came to screeching halt when a Mercury Djinn appeared on a shelf above the label 'Imil.'

Mia leapt to her feet and sprinted to the shelf. She scooped the Djinn up in her hand and held it to her ear. Even from the other side of the room, everyone could see the blood drain from her face. She muttered a response to the Djinn and sent it back to where it had come from. She turned on the spot, a look of sheer terror on her face and shouted, "Mercury Lighthouse is under attack!" To everyone's horror, the Djinn for Contigo, Lalivero, and Prox all showed up. Each had a similar message.

"What's going on?!" Jenna cried in dismay.

"Seems like someone isn't happy about the light houses being lit." Felix said ominously.

Author Note:

Well this is the first story I've written in a long time. Thought I'd take a break from my normal Naruto stories and give one of my favorite video games a shot. Hope you all like it and there's plenty more to come. I have lots of ideas for the Golden Sun crew.


	2. Earn Your Salt

The responses had been sent, all that remained was deciding who was going where and how they were getting there. Mia demanded she be the one to go to Mercury Lighthouse and Piers decided he'd go with her. His ship was still docked in the Karagol so they decided that going by sea was their best course. Sheba decided she'd go to Jupiter Lighthouse and Felix decided to join her. They decided the best mode of travel for them was Sheba's Teleport Psynergy. Ivan offered to go with Garet to Mars Lighthouse, they could use Ivan's new invention: the Soarwing. That left Isaac and Jenna to check on Venus Lighthouse and they decided to use the Flying Ship.

This mission was of the utmost importance so all other jobs could wait. All the Djinni were called back to relay this message and while they waited, everyone equipped their favorite gear. Soon the Djinni reported back with a unanimous 'Understood' and joined forces with an Adept of the same element. Everyone shared one last look and then headed off in their separate directions.

The moon was high in the sky as Isaac and Jenna boarded the Flying Ship. Isaac quickly took the helm and silently lifted her from the water. He pointed the ship southeast and with a thought, launched the ship forward. They glided through the cool night air at a great speed, but still they didn't make it passed the Suhulla Desert before dawn. An hour later Venus Lighthouse came into view and soon they were hovering above the entrance to the Lighthouse. What they saw below froze their hearts in fear.

Bodies littered the entrance. Some were obviously soldiers from Lalivero while others wore a uniform that Isaac was not familiar with. Even from their current height, Isaac and Jenna could still tell that it had been a horrific fight; disembodied limbs littered the ground and several of the bodies had strange looking burns. Arrows pinned bodies to trees and several corpses lay in a large crater. Even the Warriors of Vale had never seen the likes of this kind of bloodshed.

Sensing no life, they set off again, this time for Lalivero where the request had come from. The town was only a five minute flight away and soon the Flying Ship was landing in a wide river near the town. Isaac and Jenna disembarked and ran as fast as they could for Lalivero, arriving at the city gates in mere minutes. The guards at the gate gave them some trouble at first, but between breaths, Isaac explained who they were and showed them the Djinn that had made the request. With that they were admitted immediately and told that the mayor, Faran, was waiting for them. They rushed through the town and only stopped when the heard their names being called. They turned to see an older, blonde man waving at them.

"Isaac! Jenna! I've been expecting you." Faran said anxiously. "Come quickly, follow me." Faran lead them through some empty alleys and soon they arrived at his house. Once safely inside he seemed to think it was safe to talk. "Did you stop by the Lighthouse?"

"Yes we did." Isaac said grimly, "It's not pretty."

"So I've heard." Faran agreed just as grimly.

"Do you know who did this?" Jenna asked.

"Unfortunately I don't." Faran said, slightly crestfallen, "All I know is they use powers like nothing I've ever heard before. If the reports are to be believed, they can kill a man just by looking at them. I've sent out several search parties though. They should be back in three days' time. At that point, I'll will make sure that you know everything I know."

Isaac and Jenna were disappointed in this news, but now that the adrenaline was wearing off, they realized just how exhausted they really were. They'd only finished Colosso yesterday and then they'd been up all night burning their Psynergy making the ship fly. Both yawned deeply and while they tried to stifle the yawns, it was a hopeless endeavor. A small smile played across Faran's face and he offered them a room at the inn free of charge. Isaac and Jenna gladly accepted.

The inn was a little noisy since most people were up getting ready for the day, but it didn't matter to Isaac and Jenna as they removed their armor and other clothes. Soon both were completely naked since that was how they preferred to be when not in public. Isaac crossed to the one window that their room had and pulled the heavy curtains closed. Even in the dim light, he could easily make out Jenna's form as she moved to the bed and flopped down on top of all the bed clothes. Isaac moved to the bed and joined his lover. They gently wrapped their arms around each other, shared a passionate kiss and then took a moment to gaze into each other's eyes. Isaac allowed his hand to meander from Jenna's thigh, all across her back and up to her cheek before kissing her again.

"I'm scared." He muttered.

"Of what?"

"I don't believe in death at a glance, but those men clearly did suffer from something…I don't want that to happen to you."

"It won't." Jenna said, her eyes getting a little moist. "We've been through worse together."

"You're right. We have." Isaac agreed, running his fingers through Jenna's long auburn hair.

"What's on your mind?

"Just wondering who these new enemies are…what power they use and why do they want to attack the Lighthouses."

"I wish I knew." Jenna said, laying her head against Isaac's muscular chest.

Isaac laid his head on top of Jenna's and wrapped his arms around her a bit tighter. She sighed contentedly and was asleep with her next breath. He lay awake for a little bit longer, taking in Jenna with all his senses. She was warm in his arms and smelled like a candle right after it had been blown out; how Isaac loved that smell. He ran his hand across her body again, feeling different muscles contract and relax as she breathed, even taking a moment to just feel her heart beat under her breast. Jenna often spoke in her sleep and even though Isaac would never tell her, she occasionally snored. Even now as Isaac ran his fingers through Jenna's hair again, she mumbled something like 'not a pony tail today mommy.' Isaac had to stifle a laugh and rested his hand on Jenna's hip. He took another deep breath of Jenna's wonderful scent and then he too fell into a happy sleep.

Isaac and Jenna woke at dawn the next day. They slowly got dressed and put their armor back on before deciding what their next move should be. Once they were fully dressed, a sudden rumbling reminded them of how hungry they were. What had it been? Over a day since they'd eaten? As they made their way downstairs, the innkeeper rushed to wait on them. She was a plump, older lady and she wanted to make certain that the great Warriors of Vale had everything they needed. When the mentioned food she held her hand up telling them that she'd heard enough. She went to another room and came back almost instantly with two plates full of fish, some bread and butter and two large cups of ale. Isaac and Jenna ate the food graciously and gave the woman some money despite her saying she didn't want it.

They retraced their steps from the Inn back to Faran's house which even at this early hour, was packed and noisy. The door stood open so Isaac and Jenna entered and found that most of the people in the house were women. They guess that these were the wives of soldiers as the most common question was when the men were coming back. Faran was doing his best to answer all their questions, but with every answer, three new questions would assault his ears.

"Look!" he snapped at the crowd in his house, "I'm organizing a retrieval of wounded and dead as soon as this meeting is over. As for your husbands that have been sent out on patrol, I've already said that they should be back in two days. I can't answer any questions beyond that. Now kindly leave me in peace so that I may do my duties as your Mayor." As the women shuffled grumpily passed, Isaac and Jenna finally got a good look at Faran. He looked exhausted; deep shadows under his eyes, streaks of grey in his blonde hair, Isaac wondered if he'd gotten any sleep at all. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and turned to his officials, "Horus, do we have any volunteers for body retrieval?"

A serious looking man who must be Horus stepped forward. "We have some, but we could always use more." He barked in a deep voice.

"If you need more hands, we'll help out." Jenna said.

"Isaac! Jenna! I'm sorry I didn't see you there." Faran said, "Please don't trouble yourselves with this. You're already here on behalf of our defense."

"We were planning on going to Venus Lighthouse anyway." Isaac said. "It won't be a bother to help out while we're there."

"Well if you're certain…" Faran's voice trailed off as he fell into deep thought.

"We just need to get in contact with our friends and we'll be ready to go." Jenna said, but Faran didn't reply.

"Please excuse the Mayor." Horus said, "He has been up most of the night. Please me at the town entrance in an hour."

Isaac and Jenna nodded, quietly leaving the house. They made their way back to the inn and had to politely decline more food from the innkeeper. Once back in their room, Isaac and Jenna chose their three fastest Djinni and sent one to each group of friends. While they waited, the same questions kept coming up in their minds: Who were these enemies? What powers did they possess that could leave burns like those they had seen? Where were they now? What was their aim? Of course neither Isaac nor Jenna had the answers to these questions and they did little more than frustrate each other.

About half an hour later the Djinni returned each saying that similar battles had taken place with the same results to the dead. It seemed that none of the Warriors of Vale were any closer to solving the mystery.

Isaac and Jenna rested for another ten minutes and then decided it was time to head out. They made their way down stairs and this time gladly accepted some bread and cheese for the road. It was going to be a long day and it would be good to have some food along the way. Soon they arrived at the Lalivero gate and a small group had already gathered there. Each member eagerly shook Isaac and Jenna's hand when they saw them. It seemed each had a personal life story involving the Golden Sun event but thankfully Horus silenced them with a word.

"We'll be heading out now." He barked to the men, "We need to get there as fast as possible and return the same way. I don't want anyone slacking or falling behind. Two will be needed to pull this cart that the bodies will be loaded onto. The teams of two will pull for a mile each and then switch out. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" the men cried in unison.

"Not to undermine you sir," Jenna whispered to Horus, "but we can just use our Flying Ship. Would probably save time and effort."

He thought for a second and then gave a sharp nod, "Change of plans men."

The sun was high in the sky as the final body was loaded onto the ship and Horus finally allowed a break. The men gratefully sat with their backs to the ship in the shade cast by its hull and passed a large canteen of water around. Considering what had just been done, the mood was rather cheerful.

Isaac and Jenna began to hunt for clues around the battle field. They found very little out of the ordinary and no signs of an enemy camp. The only thing worth noting was a slight smell of rotten eggs. It was only when they began to examine the Lighthouse itself that they found something odd. There were pock marks in the stones around the Lighthouse's base. They went up about seven feet and then suddenly returned to their smooth appearance. Isaac could tell right away that this wasn't natural weathering. He put his hand to it to try to examine it with Psynergy, but the stone burned his flesh, causing him to swear loudly.

"What is it?" Jenna asked.

"The wall burned me." Isaac said, sounding confused.

"Here let me see." Jenna said, gently taking Isaac's hand. She looked long and hard at his hand and her brow began to furrow, "Isaac, this burn looks really similar to the burns on the soldiers."

Isaac looked at his hand and sure enough, there were faint red burns on his hands identical to the ones on the corpses. He looked from his hand to the wall and back again. _What could this mean?_ He wondered as he healed his hand with his Cure Psynergy.

With a thought Isaac called out his Djinn, Flint. The Venus Djinn appeared in Isaac's hand and greeted them cheerfully, "What can I do you for, Isaac?"

"I think there's something on this wall, Flint. Can you see anything strange about it?"

"I can take a look." Flint said and hopped off Isaac's hand to merge with the wall. There was a minute of silence before the Djinn popped out of the wall looking confused, "There's something strange alright. Unusual levels of Chlorine, Sulfur and Sodium."

"Well the Sulfur explains the smell." Jenna said, "But what's so strange about Chlorine and Sodium?"

"Well normally those two elements are seen as a molecule otherwise known as salt, but I'm finding these elements by themselves and that's very uncommon." Flint explained, "Also Sulfur usually only exists near volcanoes and I don't think there are any of those near here."

"What about the burn?" Isaac asked

"It's possible that the Chlorine mixed with some Hydrogen in the air and then when it got into your sweat, it became Hydrochloric acid."

"Hydro what?" Jenna asked.

"Stomach acid." Flint said matter of factly.

"Well if nothing else I have even more questions now." Isaac said rubbing the back of his head, "Thanks for all your help, Flint."

"Sure thing, buddy! Anyti-WHOA! Do you feel that?" Flint yelled looking worried.

"What?"

"Slight tremors. Probably a battle to the west far from here."

Isaac put his hand to the ground and with Venus Lighthouse amplifying his Psynergy, he could sense everything for miles. He focused his energy to the west and sure enough there was a battle taking place. Isaac began to get a vague image of the battle and his worst fears were confirmed: Lalivero soldiers were being attacked by an unknown enemy. Isaac yelled at Horus to gather his men and soon they were airborne, racing to the west. As Isaac pushed the ship to its limits, Jenna explained the situation to Horus and he understood that he and his men were to stay out of the fight.

Even at top speed, they still didn't reach the site of the battle for forty-five minutes and by then, the battle was over. The fight had taken place right on the outskirts of Suhulla Desert. _Perfect place for a hideout, _Isaac thought, _The shifting sands will make it very difficult to find foot prints and no normal person would brave the tornadoes that plague this area. _Isaac and Jenna alighted from the ship and found the remains of another bloody battle. The same burns covered the bodies of the Lalivero soldiers and patches of blood in the sand hinted at where some soldiers had made their last stand. This time, however, there was one survivor.

Propped up against a rock with a fire burning next to him was a man in a uniform that Isaac and Jenna had never seen before. The man wore a chainmail shirt with a single plate over his chest that was emblazoned with a large circle with several rings forming orbits around the circle. Underneath he wore a leather jerkin, but he wore no other pieces of armor. Despite the armor he did have though, he had still suffered a mortal wound; a spear protruded from his gut. Oddly enough this wasn't the strangest thing about the man. He seemed not to care about his wound, but instead was completely focused on a stick that he was holding in the fire.

Isaac began to cast Cure on the man to stem the flow of blood and a look of pure hatred flashed across the man's face. He brandished his flaming stick and swung it dangerously close to Isaac who stayed out of the man's reach. Jenna snapped her fingers and the already pathetic fire was snuffed out. An odd calm now played across his face.

"I know who you are." He said in a raspy voice, "The Warriors of Vale."

"We can help you if you'll just let us." Isaac said.

"Think I want help from your heresy?" the man laughed weakly, "I've shown weakness to the Order. The only help I require is to be left alone."

"What is this Order?" Jenna asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." The man said as he scraped some ashes off his stick with a finger nail. "Enjoy your powers while you can."

With that that man brought his hand with the ashes in it to his mouth and took a deep breath. Then he used a form of Psynergy Isaac and Jenna had never seen before. They assumed defensive stances, but the man's target wasn't them. The man's body began to seize violently and foam formed at his mouth. Isaac tried casting Cure, but it was already too late. The convulsions slowly came to a stop and the wide, scared eyes of the man lost their light.

A disturbing silence hung over them as both Isaac and Jenna fought to keep their breakfast in their stomachs. After a minute they had regained their composure and before they could even ask a question, Flint had appeared on Isaac's shoulder.

"There's your answer right there!" Flint said victoriously.

"What do you mean?" Isaac asked.

"That's why your hand got burned!" Flint said, as if he was explaining something simple, "That guy could manipulate the elements!"

"What kind of Adept is he?" Jenna asked, "Didn't look like one of the four elements to me."

"No those are the elements of Alchemy. This guy can control the elements of Chemistry. See he took the Carbon that was in the ashes and mixed it with the Hydrogen and Nitrogen in the air which formed some kind of gas that must've killed him."

"As disturbing as that is, how does it explain how my hand got burned?"

"Well that's easy, I can sense tons of salt on this person and if he can manipulate those elements, I guarantee he can break salt down to Sodium and Chlorine."

"So these people can use Psynergy to create acid and poisonous gases?" Jenna asked, fear obvious in her voice.

"They can probably do even more than that." Flint said, sounding more interested than anything else.

"Thanks, Flint. That'll be all for now." Isaac said, re-absorbing the Djinn. "We have to tell the others."

Jenna agreed and once again they sent out their fastest Djinni with this macabre information. They made their way back to the ship and told Horus it was safe for his men to collect the bodies of the fallen Lalivero soldiers. His men worked efficiently and when they came to the man who had committed suicide, it was decided he'd be left for the monsters. "Serves 'em right." Horus said. Isaac still decided to take the single piece of plate mail from the man's armor. Knowing the enemy's insignia would no doubt prove useful. Soon everyone was back on board and they were flying back to Lalivero.

The non-Adepts seemed content with a good day's work, but Isaac and Jenna recognized something in the air. It was an inkling at the back of their brains that they hadn't felt for many years. Something was coming. A storm, a war, possibly even genocide.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

For anyone that's curious, the gas that I was describing is Cyanide Gas.


	3. The Chemists

The ship silently flew through the afternoon sky, but the clear skies were not a reflection of the mood on board. It took a few hours, but soon the ship touched down just outside of Lalivero. Now began the somber task of unloading the bodies and Horus insisted that Isaac and Jenna had done enough. They watched as several bodies were carried down the gang plank and wives were brought forward to identify their husbands.

Isaac couldn't watch as a second group of bodies was brought to the grieving wives and he and Jenna made their way into town. They made their way to Faran's house which was empty this time and knocked sharply. The door was answered quickly by a harassed looking Faran. When he saw who it was, his face lit up with hope.

"Any news?"

Isaac and Jenna told him everything that they knew and suspected. With each word the hopeful look on Faran's face became more worried. Then Isaac showed Faran the piece of armor he had taken from the enemy and his face shifted to confusion.

"What is that?"

"It seems to be the symbol of our enemies." Isaac said darkly.

"What is it even a design of?" Faran asked, "The closest thing I can think of is the planet's orbit around the sun."

"You're close!" Flint piped up as he appeared on Isaac's shoulder. "That is a basic diagram of an atom."

"An atom?" Jenna asked.

"The basic building blocks of everything." Flint explained.

"That makes sense if they're Psynergy involves manipulating atoms." Faran agreed. "I'm sorry, but even with all of this new information, I still have no idea who these men are." He crossed to his window and looked out, gloomily. "The sun is already beginning to set. The scouting party should return by tomorrow and hopefully they'll have some news for us."

"We'll be heading back to the inn then." Isaac said as he and Jenna turned and left the mayor's house.

Once back at the inn, Isaac sent off another Djinni with the new information. He and Jenna shared a disappointed sigh before the innkeeper offered them both large bowls of stew that they were only too happy to accept. This time they asked for seconds and the keeper jumped to serve them as quickly as possible. Now full and content, they climbed the stairs to their room. Isaac closed the door and suddenly Jenna had her arms around him. He smiled, but when he turned to face her, he saw that she had tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, wiping her tears away.

"What did you feel?" Jenna asked in a shaky voice. "What did you feel when you saw those women mourning the deaths of their husbands?"

"I was sad, I guess." Isaac said, completely caught off guard by Jenna's question.

"I saw myself in every one of them. I have to accept that you could end up like one of those men every time we go out on missions." Jenna said as fresh tears rolled down her face.

"Hey, as long as we're together, that'll never happen." Isaac said, smiling down at Jenna.

"Promise?"

Isaac took Jenna's hand into his and gently pulled it across his chest, "Cross my heart."

The smile that spread across Jenna's face could only be described as pure bliss. She pulled Isaac into a deep kiss which he was only too eager to return. Her hands moved across Isaac's broad shoulders and down to his muscular chest. She found the end of his tunic and lifted it, breaking the kiss only to remove the article. She laid her head against his chest, breathing in his smell. It wasn't one smell in particular, it just reminded her of a wide, open forest glade. She felt Isaac's hands on her shoulders and she looked up into his deep blue eyes. They smiled at each other and Isaac began to undo the buttons to Jenna's silk shirt. He undid each one slowly, savoring each moment. Finally he undid the last button so that the shirt merely hung from Jenna's shoulders. He reached under the shirt and ran his hands across her shoulders and down her back. The garment fell to the floor, exposing Jenna's modest breasts. Isaac's hands continued down her back until they came to her skirt. He kissed Jenna again as his hands went under her skirt to grip her leggings and push them down. They fell in a heap around her feet and Jenna broke their kiss, blushing madly. Isaac smirked and scooped Jenna up into his arms. She squeaked in surprise and wrapped her arms around Isaac's neck. He chuckled as he moved toward the bed and laid Jenna down on it. She gave him a sultry look as she crossed her arms behind her head and Isaac felt his body grow hot.

He climbed into bed and moved so that he was above her on his hands and knees, "Why do I still have pants on?" he asked with a sexy smirk.

"What pants?" Jenna asked as she reached up and pulled his trousers down.

Isaac leaned down for another kiss as he slowly slid inside Jenna. She moaned with pleasure into his mouth and her nails scratched at his back. Isaac began to move slowly in and out of Jenna, and her moans became too intense for Isaac to silence. He broke their kiss and moved his mouth to Jenna's neck and dragged his teeth across her smooth skin. Jenna felt her mind begin to swim from pleasure and arched her back as Isaac slid deeper into her. Her body began to grow hotter as her Psynergy was triggered by her racing emotions. She grew hottest in the areas that Isaac touched her, causing Isaac to moan in pleasure.

Her heavy breathing and sexy moans only motivated Isaac and he began to thrust harder and faster into her. Jenna screamed in pleasure as her pleasure reached its climax and her nails dug deeper into Isaac's back. Her Psynergy pulsed and the temperature in the already warm room jumped considerably. Isaac gritted his teeth against the pain and shifted positions so that she was sitting in his lap. They were both sweating and the smells of candles and clean earth filled the room.

"Don't you dare stop." Jenna gasped, with a look of pure lust on her face.

Isaac merely smirked and rocked Jenna in his lap, stimulating new areas inside her. She moaned as fresh pleasure washed over her body and she wrapped her arms around Isaac's head, forcing it between her breasts. It was hotter here than any other part or Jenna; Isaac loved the feel of her warmth, especially the warmth of her heart. He reached up with his hands and began to fondle the breasts that threatened to suffocate him. Jenna sighed happily and then moaned again as Isaac moved one breast so that her nipple slid into his mouth. He teased her with his tongue as he continued to move his hips and Jenna through back her head with a wild, lustful wail. She suddenly shoved Isaac so she was straddling him.

"My turn." Jenna said.

Jenna took Isaac all the way inside of her and began to grind into him. Both began to moan loudly with renewed pleasure. Jenna leaned forward and clamped her hot mouth over Isaac's, kissing him deeply as she continued to grind into Isaac. Their tongues vied for dominance in their mouths and Isaac's moans slowly increased as he neared his limit. Jenna could feel Isaac throbbing inside her and she grinded against him faster and harder. Isaac pushed back against Jenna so that he was on top and moaned loudly as he thrust into Jenna as hard as he could. They both screamed as they simultaneously climaxed and Isaac slumped down next to Jenna, breathing heavily.

"That was amazing." Isaac said, between breaths.

"I love you." Jenna said into Isaac's chest.

"I love you too." Isaac said.

The two lovers wrapped each other in their arms and before they knew it, they were deep asleep.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Weyard, Felix and Sheba approached Jupiter Lighthouse. It was the same as they had left it many years ago; tall, purple and with a glowing orb of Jupiter Psynergy at the summit. Felix had received Isaac's message via Djinn a day ago and they had confirmed similar markings on the base of Jupiter Lighthouse. Felix had even confirmed the presence of the same elements as Isaac had found with his own Venus Djinn: Echo.

Sheba stood at the base of the Lighthouse, feeling its Psynergy flow into her. She loved this lighthouse; it's why she had been so adamant about being the one to investigate it. She moved closer and touched the stones that had been damaged by the unknown enemy. It saddened her that someone had wanted to hurt this Lighthouse and that sorrow strengthened her desire to capture the culprit. As sad as it was, however, there was nothing new here.

"Should we check out the top of the Lighthouse?" Sheba asked Felix.

"Might as well." Felix said moving to the elevator. "Maybe we can learn something up there."

The elevator came to the summit and to Sheba and Felix, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They hopped across the floating platforms and came to the Lighthouse's aerie for a closer look. Felix released Echo so he could look for more of the same elements, but none were found. Sheba had to agree that all the stones looked smooth up here.

"Damn." Felix cursed, "Not a single clue."

Even as he looked in the distance, nothing betrayed the sign of life except for the city of Contigo in the distance. Felix sighed audibly. They'd been here for two and a half days and had nothing to show for their efforts. Isaac on the other hand had all but figured out who the enemy was. He wasn't jealous of Isaac, Felix just felt that he wasn't doing his part. He grumbled under his breath and only when Sheba gasped did he return to the situation at hand. He spun to find Sheba pointing down below at a group of people. Felix couldn't make out who they were from this height, but he had a feeling they weren't friendly.

"Can you read their minds from here?" Felix asked Sheba.

"There's too many." Sheba said rubbing her temples, "All their thoughts are getting jumbled together."

"Guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way." Felix said and walked back to the elevator.

The elevator came to the base of the Lighthouse once again and Felix and Sheba stepped off. They walked calmly toward the large group and stood facing them with their feet still on the stones of the Lighthouse. Even if this group was dangerous, they'd still need a Jupiter Adept to step onto the Lighthouse and Felix was willing to bet none of these people were such. He glanced at the foremost man in the group and instantly recognized the armor and insignia from Isaac's description. The only difference he noticed was that these people all had a cloth tied over their mouths. Felix normally would have no qualms taking on an enemy this size, but since the extent of the enemy's abilities was still unknown, he was glad they had erred on the side of caution.

"Hello." Felix said, jovially, "Who might you be?"

One man detached himself from the group, "My name is Scott and we have some questions for you!" Scott was a rather scrawny man with dark, unkempt hair. He seemed polite enough in Felix's opinion.

"Ask away. I have nothing to hide."

"Who are you and what kind of Adepts are you! We know one of you is a Jupiter Adept, so don't lie to us!" So much for the politeness, Felix thought.

"My name is Felix and this is Sheba." Felix said, a slight frown forming on his face. "Why do you think we're-"

"As in the Warriors of Vale Felix?" Scott said, cutting Felix off.

"Yes, that's me." Felix said.

"Well I'll be goddamned," Scott said, his entire demeanor changing, "That means you're a shit dick Venus Adept. Alright then you sons of bitches, kill those fucktards!"

The men behind Scott began to cast their Psynergy and Felix was ready to counter with some of his own, but Sheba held her arm out in front of him. She thrust her arm forward casting her Whirlwind Psynergy and the whole group seemed dismayed.

"What's up, Sheba?" Felix asked.

"I'm not sure what they were doing, but I could feel something wrong in the air."

"You're right!" Echo said from Felix's shoulder, "You may not want to get too close to these guys; they probably stink to high heaven."

"How can you tell?" Felix asked.

"Their bodies are releasing large amounts of Sulfur, basically they fart a lot and they reek of B.O." Echo said, stifling a laugh. "This doesn't seem to be merely poor hygiene though. They were manipulating the Sulfur from their fumes and the Hydrogen from the air to form a dangerous gas-"

"-And I blew it away." Sheba said, looking disgusted and relieved at the same time.

"Who are you people?" Felix demanded, "Are you Adepts as well?"

"How dare you!" Scott said with less conviction than he truly felt, "Calling me a fucking Adept. I ain't no heretic! I and my men here are called Chemists. We're men of science! I am surprised your little piece of shit goblin friend knows so much about science though."

"Why are you attacking the Lighthouses?"

"Ain't telling you dick-for-brain." Scott laughed, "All you need to know is we aim to kill all ya'll cunt buckets who still use Alchemy. Now what are you assholes, attack!"

Scott's men prepared to form more gas to fight Felix and Sheba with, but she simply blew the gas away. Felix smirked; now he knew what the enemy was capable of and how to counter it. He threw himself at the first rank of Chemists and sent them flying with a Quake Sphere. Echo had been right, these guys smelled horrible. The second and third rank began their attack but Felix cast Grand Gaia and more than half of the men lay on the ground defeated.

As Felix fought the enemy to the front, he could feel strong winds behind him, letting him know that Sheba was taking out enemies to the rear while simultaneously protecting him from the gasses. One man struck at Felix with an axe, but he easily countered and smashed the enemy to the ground with Megiddo. He then turned to a large group that was advancing on him, but they were suddenly sent flying by Sheba's Spark Plasma. Felix had to laugh as the remainder of the enemy forces were picked off one by one by Sheba until only Scott was left. Felix advanced on the small man who stood trembling in fear of him.

"Shit…I got so worked up I forgot one a ya'll was a Jupiter Adept. Please forgive me." He whimpered.

"Tell me what I want to know and maybe I will." Felix said firmly.

"Depends on what you want to know." Scott chuckled, a glimmer of his former personality showing through.

"Who do you work for and what are your goals?"

"Wrong question, ass munch." Scott yelled, "Besides, what's the fun in just giving you the answers?" As he said this he reached for a small bag on his belt and removed the cloth from his face.

"What's that?" Felix demanded.

"You got fucking corn in your goddamn ears?" Scott said, bringing the bag to his mouth and taking a bite out of it, "It ain't no fun giving you all the fucking answers. Glory to King Manhattan!"

Before Felix could do anything else, Scott's body began to shake with violent convulsions and foam formed in his mouth. For a full minute his body thrashed and then finally he lay still. Felix felt sick to his stomach, but he took the small bag from Scott and checked its contents. There was nothing but a fine black powder. He moved away from the corpse with more questions than he had before. Sheba ran to meet him and she rubbed his back as he began to retch.

"Did you learn anything?" she asked once he'd recovered.

"Not really." Felix admitted. "He committed suicide after eating something from a pouch."

"That was Carbon." Echo said, suddenly on the ground next to Felix. "He must've combined it with elements in the air to form a seriously deadly gas. The same as Isaac reported with that one guy he found."

"Could you read his mind?" Felix asked, ignoring Echo.

"I could, but his mind made no sense, Felix." Sheba explained, "Nothing but a never ending stream of profanity except for the phrase 'Glory to King Manhattan."

"He said that before he died, too." Felix said getting back to his feet. "Well we obviously don't know who King Manhattan is so let's just forward this new information to the others."

Sheba nodded and summoned three of her Jupiter Djinn. She gave them each a message and they raced off into the distance.

Far to the north, Piers and Mia had just arrived in Imil. Piers claimed this was a new record, but with Isaac's messages buzzing in her head, Mia was still anxious to check on her Lighthouse. With the ship docked, they made their way into town and were instantly surrounded by fearful town folk looking for an explanation and others that were wanting their help with other jobs. They had to explain their situation more than once and Piers could see that with each explanation, Mia was getting more frustrated. He suddenly grabbed her hand and cast his Frost Psynergy. The snow at his feet packed together to form a solid pillar of ice and they leaped from it to the nearest roof. Mia set off at a sprint across the roofs and Piers struggled to keep up with her.

Soon they reached the outskirts of town and when they returned to street level, there were far fewer people. They continued at a run towards the Lighthouse which was at least still standing. As they neared the Lighthouse though, Mia's blood turned to ice. Even from this distance she could tell that something much worse had happened to Mercury Lighthouse.

They arrived at the base of the Lighthouse to find the pool of Hermes water destroyed. Even the statue that the water had flowed from was gone. There was now just a geyser and the precious water sprayed everywhere. Rubble littered the base of the Lighthouse and scorch marks covered the exterior. Mia took all this in before falling to her knees and weeping.

Piers tried to comfort her, but she was beyond any consolation at this point. He decided to leave her alone for a bit and began his investigation. Whoever had attacked the Mercury Lighthouse had been far more zealous than at the Venus and Jupiter Lighthouses. As far as he could see, there was no chemical wearing of the stones, just scorch marks and craters. He rode the elevator to the aerie, but was surprised to see no damage done. On the contrary the aerie seemed untouched. This ruled out the possibility of other Mercury Adepts being the culprits at least.

When Piers returned to the base, Mia had regained her composure. She had created a new statue out of ice for the Hermes water and had even fashioned a new collecting pool. Piers approached her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You ok?" he asked softly.

"No, I'm not." She said thickly, "the protection of this Lighthouse is my clan's responsibility and I failed in that one responsibility."

"We'll find who did this Mia." Piers reassured her.

As if in response, an explosion shook the very foundations of the Lighthouse. Mia and Piers looked around and saw a plume of smoke rising from Imil. Mia felt her legs threaten to buckle again, but then a new emotion flooded her veins: rage. She sprinted back towards her home town blind to fatigue and arrived to find several injured near the pier. She gave them her full attention, casting her Ply Psynergy again and again. Only when Piers finally arrived and groaned did she notice that their ship had been caught in the explosion too. Mia healed the final victim and turned to Piers just as someone threw a rock at her. She ducked just in time and heard it splash in the harbor behind her. She was just about to yell at this person when the water behind her exploded. The shockwave knocked Mia and Piers off their feet and they lay on the wet ground, dazed and confused.

New people began to appear out of alley ways wearing armor similar to what Isaac had described except that this time, it seemed the armor was thicker and sturdier. One thing that was the same was the insignia branded onto the chest plate. Mia and Piers shakily got to their feet, ready to fight for their lives. Only then did a woman make her way to the front of the crowd. She was rather beautiful, with long pink hair, deep emerald eyes and smooth ebony skin, but Piers could sense something off about her.

"Piers and Mia," she said opening her arms as if to hug them, "It's so nice to finally meet you."

"Who are you?" Mia asked through gritted teeth.

"There's really no point in telling you that. We Chemists are going to kill you soon, but my name is Valerie." She said as if it was the most beautiful sounding word she'd ever heard, "Did you enjoy my work at the Lighthouse?"

"Mia don't fall for it, she's baiting you." Piers warned, but it was already too late.

Mia screamed in rage and cast her Deluge Psynergy, but Valerie only laughed and tossed another rock before dodging. The rock passed through Mia's water, caught fire and hit her in the chest before exploding. She was blown backward and came to a rest on a bank of the harbor. Piers didn't see her moving and placed himself between Valerie's forces and Mia.

"That's an interesting trick, Valerie." Piers said, "Is it Psynergy?"

"Isn't it?" Valerie said with a genuine smile, holding another rock, "and no, it's no magic, this is plain science. This is the power of Sodium."

"Too bad it won't work on me." Piers said and lashed out with his sword Excalibur. Valerie leaped out of his way and her men attacked. Piers countered and parried, taking out several of the Chemists with his superior sword, but he felt himself being overwhelmed. Without Psynergy there was no way he could take on this many enemies. Suddenly he had an idea and cast Megacool. Ice spires erupted from the ground impaling some of the Chemists. _This should work, _Piers thought, _that rock seems to need water to explode. Ice should be safe. _He continued to lash out with his Psynergy and block with Excalibur until he found himself surrounded by icy stalagmites.

"You've just undone yourself." Valerie said from a nearby roof.

Piers turned to her to scoff, but then he noticed that each enemy he'd impaled held a handful of what looked like salt. Right before his eyes, the dying men used the last of their Psynergy to separate the salt into two different materials, one a white chalky substance and the other looked very similar to the rocks Valerie had been throwing. Each man then shoved the stones into their own bodies and cried "Glory to King Manhattan." An instant later they all exploded. Piers was blown into the air amid tons of ice shards, blood and viscera. He crashed down, feeling his right leg break from the force of the fall. He screamed in pain and felt himself beginning to black out. As the darkness closed around him, he summoned up his best Djinn and sent it speeding away through the ocean. The last thing he heard was Valerie cackling madly and telling her henchmen to shackle him and Mia.

_Isaac, please hurry._

All was calm in Lalivero. Isaac and Jenna slept soundly in each other's arms until an explosion shook their room. They sat bolt upright and were immediately dawning their armor. Five minutes later they were rushing down the stairs passed the innkeeper who seemed on the verge of hysteria. They ran outside to find that the harbor had been attacked. Large pieces of docks were missing and some of the ships were sinking and even the water was on fire. Luckily the flying ship was docked in a river outside of town.

They made their way through the throng of terrified people and to Isaac and Jenna's horror, some of them bore the same burns as the bodies of the dead soldiers. They rounded a corner and a man in the same armor as they'd seen in the Sulhullen desert. He had cornered a person and held a bottle of some kind of clear liquid. Judging by the look of terror on the civilian's face, the liquid was something to be feared. The man in armor threw the bottle at the civilian, but Isaac had already moved between the two, caught the bottle and threw it back in the man's face. The glass broke and to Isaac's horror, the man's skin began to smoke and then melt. He screamed in pain and tried to run away, but instead ran head first into a wall with a sickening crunch. The civilian screamed in fear and ran before Isaac could ask him anything.

"Flint, what the hell was that?" Isaac demanded.

"Had to be Hydrochloric acid." Flint said, "I'm going to guess they separated the salt in the ocean which left large amounts of Sodium in the water which would explain why it's burning. This would also give them large amounts of Chlorine which is probably why they're using acid to terrorize the people here."

"That's disgusting." Jenna said, a look of loathing on her face.

"There's also high amounts of Sulfur in the air." Flint added, "I'm at a loss for that one."

"Thanks Flint. We'll keep that in mind." Isaac said and they rushed for the docks again.

As they got closer, the smell of Sulfur got stronger until Jenna and Isaac had to hold their noses. They made it to the docks and the scene looked like it was right out of Hell. A large group stood in the water at the bank of the harbor and Isaac could see their hands move into the water and pull out a white chalky substance. They would add that to a jar and shake it up to produce the same liquid that Isaac had thrown at the previous enemy. Isaac cast Grand Gaia and a number of the men disappeared into the chasm. The rest turned toward Isaac and Jenna and lobbed the bottles they'd already made. There were too many to catch and Isaac and Jenna were forced to retreat out of their range.

"Who are you?" Isaac demanded of the men.

"Who are you Venus Adept?" a tall, muscular man said.

"I am Isaac of the Warriors of Vale." Isaac proclaims loudly.

"Is that so?" the same man said, "Well my name is Jack and we are the Chemists. Are you going to die easily or will I get to play with you for a while?"

The Chemists moved closer and lobbed more acid bottles at Isaac and Jenna. Isaac used his Psynergy to form and an earthen shield. The bottles crashed against the stone and the acid began to eat its way through. Isaac looked worried, but Jenna seemed to have a plan. She waited until the acid had eaten a hole in the shield and fired her Searing Beam Psynergy. The effect was devastating. Explosions blossomed down the whole length of the beam including right at Jenna's hands. They were blown back from Isaac's earthen shield, but they took relatively little damage.

"What was that?" Isaac asked, getting back to his feet.

"Must've been the Sulfur that Flint mentioned." Jenna guessed.

"Stay behind me then." Isaac said as more acid came flying towards them.

With each shield Isaac made, he pushed himself and Jenna further back, but it was all he could do to protect against the acid. Isaac attempted to attack with his Stone Spire Psynergy, but some of the Chemists formed diamond shields and countered his attacks. Soon they had been pushed into a corner like the civilian they had saved before. Isaac was low on Psynergy and the Sulfur was beginning to make his head swim. He could feel the footsteps of the Chemists as they drew closer and the Sulfur became thick enough that the air itself took on a yellow tinge.

"This might be the end." Isaac said, calmly looking at Jenna.

"Do you trust me?" Jenna asked.

Isaac gave her a look that clearly said 'Duh' and she casted her Dragon Fume Psynergy. The huge dragon shaped fire shot into the air where the gas was thinnest, again causing minor damage to them and Isaac quickly used the last of his Psynergy to form a shield that enclosed them in their corner. They could hear the terrified screams of the Chemists as the realized the inevitable and then there was the sound of a great rushing fire. The Chemists screams pierced their ears even through the earthen shield and as they died, each yelled 'Glory to King Manhattan.'

When silence finally fell, Isaac touched the wall and in crumbled away, having been baked by Jenna's fire. They emerged and breathed easier; all the sulfur had been burned off leaving clean air, save for the smell of burning flesh. The surrounding town was ablaze and Isaac feared that the town would burn to the ground but just then of all things a Mercury Djinni appeared at Isaac's feet. It had a message, but Isaac ordered it to put the fires out first. The Djinni seemed a little upset, but proceeded to spray water on the fires. Isaac released his Djinn as well to pour earth on the fires and smother them.

With even less strength now, Isaac slumped down against a wall and relaxed. Jenna sat with him, stroking his singed hair. He looked at her and wiped some soot from her cheek. They both smiled and shared a kiss before noticing they had an audience; eleven Djinn stood patiently waiting to be acknowledged.

"Good work everyone." Isaac said and held out his hand for his eight Venus Djinn to return. That left a Mercury, a Mars, and a Jupiter Djinni. "OK, what are you messages?"

The Jupiter Djinni stepped forward and Sheba's voice was heard, "We encountered the enemy. They are known as Chemists and you were right, they can make poisonous gases. Weren't much of a threat since I can just blow their attacks away. As of now, Jupiter Lighthouse is safe."

"Excellent." Isaac said. "At least we know how to fight them. Next?"

The Mars Djinni stepped forward and Garet's voice bellowed, "Mars Lighthouse is safe. These Chemists guys are push overs, of course next to me most people are push overs."

"I guess that's to be expected." Jenna laughed, "They had Jupiter and Mars to fight with. Now what's the last message?"

The Mercury Djinni came forward and Piers' weak voice muttered, "Isaac, please hurry."


	4. King Manhattan

"Isaac, please hurry." The Mercury Djinni repeated.

For a moment, all Isaac and Jenna could do was stare at the Mercury Djinni. How could Piers; one their strongest members, have been defeated? After a minute of amazed silence, Isaac came to a decision. He sent each Djinni back to its owner with a new message: Get to Imil as fast as possible.

Lalivero, while safe now, is still in a panic, making it harder for Isaac and Jenna to move, but they eventually make it to Faran's house. They'd expected it to be full of angry town's people, but it was actually empty this time. They knocked on the door and a very stressed Faran answered. At the sight of them, his face adopted a nasty scowl. He doesn't invite them in, this time he orders them into his house and they enter tentatively.

"Do you know the damage you have caused in my town?" Faran demanded after locking his door. "The people are in a panic, part of the town is on fire, dozens covered in strange burns and who knows how many are dead!"

"Mayor, please," Jenna said, trying to calm Faran, "We actually saved your town from further destruction. If we hadn't been there to stop the Chemists-"

"The who?"

"The ones who attacked your town." Isaac said, "They're the ones responsible for the damage to your town, not us."

"I suppose that huge fireball was their doing too?"

"Well, no, that was us finished them off." Jenna said.

"Then you admit damaging my town?"

"It's not our fault!" Isaac shouted.

"Isn't it?" Faran yelled back, "Why do you think they attacked this place? By your story, it sounds like they ignored Lalivero and her citizens once they found you. You prevented further destruction of my town and for that I am grateful, but if you had not been here in the first place, this wouldn't have happened!"

"YOU CALLED US HERE!" Isaac roared.

"Never the less, I am holding you responsible for damages to Lalivero." Faran said, folding his arms.

"Send us the bill." Jenna said angrily. They made to leave, but Faran did not move.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave. If I did that and had no one to hold accountable for these damages, the people would revolt."

"You have people to blame: The Chemists." Isaac said, forcing himself to be calm.

"Besides, do you really think you can stop us?" Jenna asked.

"A-Are you threatening me?" Faran stuttered.

"More of a warning." Jenna said, igniting a fire in her hand, "Our friends are in trouble and you are standing between us and helping them."

She held out her fiery hand and walked slowly towards Faran. He would either have to move to let them leave, or suffer serious burns. Jenna could see the conflict in his eyes, but he reluctantly decided to move unlock the door and move out of their way. He grudgingly watched them leave.

"We'll come back and sort this out once our friends are safe. Promise." Jenna said as the door closed again.

Still fuming, Isaac and Jenna make their way out of Lalivero and to their ship still docked in a nearby river. They climbed aboard and began the long trip up to Imil. Isaac was still recovering from his fight so Jenna took the helm and she pointed the ship North East and set off as fast as she could push the ship. With only her Psynergy to power the ship, it wouldn't be able to clear the mountains of Goma Range so they were going to have to go over the Morgall Woods then turn North West towards Imil. The trip was going to take at least two days.

Isaac sat behind Jenna with his back against the hull, watching her. She must've been extremely focused since she only moved with the rise and fall of the ship as it flew through the air. He felt the cool night air blowing through his hair and soon he was fast asleep. He dreamt of his friends, Piers and Mia. In his dreams, horrible things happened to them and Isaac was powerless to protect them. Each scenario his mind presented him was worse than the last until he finally dreamt they had fallen off a cliff.

Isaac woke with a start to find that the ship was falling, not Piers or Mia. The ship suddenly climbed again, regaining its altitude, but it was nowhere near as stable as it usually was. Isaac looked at Jenna and could see that she was clearly exhausted. He jumped to his feet and put his own hands on the Black Orb. Instantly the ship's flight stabilized with Isaac's added power and Jenna fell to her knees beside the helm.

"What's wrong with you?!" Isaac shouted, "You should've woken me up sooner!"

"I just…I just…" Jenna was so weak she couldn't even finish her sentence.

"You just wanted to save them?" Isaac guessed, "Fat load of good you'll do if you don't have any Psynergy."

Jenna nodded weakly and slumped to the side, deep asleep. Isaac muttered angrily to himself and tried to figure out where they were. He spotted a town and recognized it as Xion. He took the ship into a wide turn and pointed the ship North West. The sun was high in the sky so Isaac guessed they still had about a day of travel maybe a day and a half. He sighed and urged the ship to go faster.

The sun began to set again and still Isaac flew on. He was beginning to feel weak himself, but thankfully Jenna began to stir and after she stretched, she was awake and helping him fly. She apologized for being dumb and with a kiss, Isaac forgave her. With Jenna's added power, Isaac felt strong enough to stay at the helm and together they pushed the ship faster through the air. As they passed over Kolima Forest, the air grew colder. Isaac put his arm around Jenna; he often described her as a human furnace. Even with both of them flying the ship, Imil still didn't come into view until dawn the next morning.

As they approached, the damage became more obvious. Repairs were underway, but several buildings still had large holes in them and the harbor was full of scuttled ships. They landed their ship on a snow drift outside Imil and sprinted to the town. Imil was much smaller than Lalivero and Isaac and Jenna moved through the streets much easier. None of the town's people seemed to notice them since they were so busy with rebuilding their town. Isaac and Jenna rounded a corner and felt an earthquake shake the town. They expected panic, but no one seemed to care. Isaac was curious and placed his hand on the ground. His perception wasn't as good without Venus Lighthouse's power, but he could still sense seismic activity at the harbor.

Isaac and Jenna made their way there and found Felix helping move the ruined ships with his Psynergy. They called out to him and when they caught his eye, he ran up to meet them.

"You sure took your time." Felix said.

"Shut up, have you found them?" Isaac asked.

"No, even the Mercury Djinni couldn't find them." Felix said, indicating the Djinni on his shoulder. "I feel sorry for him; the rest of us already have as many as we can carry so he's just been floating around. I tried searching for the elements that the Chemists like to use and Echo found trace amounts leading off to the South West so we at least have a direction to start looking."

"Any idea what happened?"

"I talked to Meagan and Justin; Mia's students, and they told me everything. Seems like the Chemists attacked the town and its people. Mia and Piers fought and were defeated before being dragged away. They say they were dragged in the same direction of the elements that Echo was sensing."

"What are we waiting for then?" Jenna asked.

"For you guys to get here." A familiar voice said behind them, "You sure took your sweet time."

"Shut up, Garet, we were on the other side of the world." Isaac said, turning to his friend with a quick smile.

"You made considerably good time." Ivan said from behind Garet, "We only beat you by a day with my Soarwing."

"Of course, no one is faster than my Teleport Psynergy." Sheba said materializing next to Felix.

"Good, we're all here." Isaac said, "Let's go find our friends."

Piers awoke from to a throbbing headache. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he found that he was in a jail cell and he wasn't alone. Mia sat against a wall next to him, still unconscious. He tried to move, but a searing pain shot through his leg and with it, the memories came flooding back; the Chemists, Mia getting hurt and his own defeat. His hands instinctively moved to cradle the limb and he found that his arms were far heavier than normal. Heavy chains hung from shackles on his wrists and they secured him to the wall. He looked down at his leg and cast his Ply Psynergy. Nothing happened. Piers tried again, but still his leg sat, bent at a weird angle. He guessed that the chains and shackles had Psynergy seals built into them. Then he noticed one final thing: he had been stripped of all but his underwear.

Panic began to rise in Piers' chest as his leg began to ache more and more, but then he felt a soothing sensation flow through him. His Djinni Spritz appeared on his shoulder and its healing ability began working on Piers' leg. In no time it was as good as new and Piers got to his feet. He thanked the Djinni and told it to heal Mia as well. The Djinni jumped happily to the task and soon Mia looked completely healthy.

"What happened?" Mia asked as she slowly woke up.

"You were hit pretty hard." Piers said, "It's probably a good thing you're alive."

"What do you mean?" Mia said, but then her eyes flew open and tears flowed down her face, "I…I lost…Imil could be in flames right now…the Lighthouse could be in ruins…I'm a failure…as a Mercury Clan member and a citizen of Imil…"

"It's ok," Piers said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I sent one of my Djinni to Isaac before I was defeated. I'm sure they all came to Imil's rescue."

"That's not the point!" Mia wailed, "It's because I didn't have the forethought to do that that I'm a failure. You who isn't even of the Mercury Clan did a better job of carrying out my duty than me!"

"You still came to their rescue." Piers said weakly.

"And I was DEFEATED!" Mia cried, "I've f-f-failed in my duty, Piers…just leave me alone, you don't understand."

Piers decided it was better to just let Mia cry it out for now. He moved to the cell door; it was a plain piece of metal, no bars, just a small window at the top and a flap at the bottom. Piers tried to look out the tiny window, but the corridor outside was too dark for anything to be seen. He tried banging on the door, but all he got in response was a gruff voice telling him to be quiet. He returned his attention to the rest of the cell; nothing but bare rock which gave off a faint glow. There wasn't even a bed. Piers sighed and moved back to sit next to Mia. She was still sobbing uncontrollably, so Piers let her be.

It felt like hours later, they heard a rapping at the door and Mia's sobs were instantly silenced. The door was unlocked from the outside and none other than Valerie came strolling in. She was looking rather pleased with herself and gave Piers a smile he didn't like. She was no longer wearing the armor from their last encounter. Now she wore a tight, black leather dress that left little to the imagination and her long red hair flowed down her back in luxurious curls. In her arms she carried an assortment of items: a whip, some small knives, candles and what Piers guessed was some kind of oil. She set them down next to a wall and then stood in front of Piers and Mia, a smug smile on her face.

"Not so strong without your blasphemous powers, are you?"

"Why?" Mia said weakly, "Why did you attack my town? My people? They were completely innocent…why did you do that?

"What's the point in telling you?" Valerie said slowly, enjoying every moment.

"Tell me now!" Mia screamed, "Why Imil? Why Mercury Lighthouse?"

"Such fire. Rare for a Mercury Adept." Valerie purred. "Very well, I'll tell you. It is the teaching of our Lord; King Manhattan, that Alchemy is pure evil. Psynergy is a science and should only be used for the advancement of science. Your Psynergy is old, outdated, and archaic. Just as animals have evolved over the eons, so now will Psynergy. Alchemy will be forgotten and the new era of Chemistry will begin. We are nothing but messengers of this new age and as messengers, we must clear the path. For this to happen, all of you heathens must be removed. You say that the town's people are innocent? They all use Alchemy! For that fact alone they are evil!"

"You're wrong!" Mia yelled, "Very few in Imil are actual Mercury Adepts. Only myself and my two pupils are Adepts. You attacked normal humans that day. Have you no shame?"

"I…attacked innocent people?" Valerie said in mock horror, "They served their part in the end. Among the Chemists, you Warriors of Vale are held in very high esteem. After all you are the ones who bestowed our powers onto us when you lifted the seal that the Ancients put on Psynergy. Truth be told, we didn't mean any harm to the Lighthouses at all; without them, we'd lose our powers."

"You're insane!" Piers yelled, "If all of that is true, then why did you attack us and the Lighthouses?"

"To draw you out." Valerie said, another nasty grin curling across her lips, "We could never defeat all eight of you together, legend says even the Wise One could not stop you. So we decided to split you up and the easiest way to defeat you was to attack the Lighthouses and innocent people."

"And we took the bait…" Piers said.

"Like moths to a flame, wouldn't you say?" Valerie said with a giggle. "Now how about I begin to play with you?" Valerie stepped forward and gave Piers' leg a sharp kick. She expected him to scream in pain, but all he did was wince. She kicked him again and again, but still he showed very little sign of pain. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously and she grabbed Piers' leg, feeling for the broken bone. Finding none she moved to Mia and grabbed her chin. She forced Mia to look her in the face and confusion and anger spread across Valerie's face. "How did you heal your wounds?"

Piers' just smiled at Valerie and she slapped him, cutting his cheek with her nails, "Just because you've sealed our Psynergy doesn't mean we're helpless." Piers smirked as his Djinni healed his wounds before Valerie's eyes. "We still have allies that don't rely on it. They aren't limited to healing either. For instance, I can seal your Psynergy."

Rime appeared on Piers' shoulder and with a glance, sealed Valerie's Psynergy. She looked furious and screamed for guards. Two quickly burst through the door, but Mia attacked with two Mercury Djinn of her own, easily dispatching them. Valerie turned back to the two Mercury Adepts, a new expression on her face: fear.

"I'll give you one last chance to free us." Piers said as one by one his Djinn appeared and began to hover around him in a protective circle.

"Y-You don't scare me!" Valerie said pulling a large chunk of sodium out from the inside of her dress, "I still had this ace up my sleeve."

"You think that's going to help you now?" Piers laughed, "Mercury Djinn don't attack with water when they're summoned."

With a twitch of his head Pier's Djinn launched themselves at Valerie. She tried to manipulate the Sodium in her hands, but with her Psynergy still sealed, it did nothing. The Djinn attacked and knocked the Sodium from her hands before pelting her with blows from all sides. One rammed into her gut, forcing her to bend doubled over while another rocketed upward into her chin. She spun around dazed, trying to swat the Djinn with her hands, but a final attack collided with her back and she fell to the ground at Piers' feet. He seized his chance and the next thing Valerie knew, the chains that bound Piers to the wall were wrapped around her neck.

"Free us now!" Piers roared right into Valerie's ear.

"Never." Valerie snarled.

Piers looked at Mia who nodded and attacked with her own Djinn. Mia took extreme care to not attack the same spot on Valerie twice, but rather than giving in, Valerie seemed to enjoy Mia's precision. Her anger began to boil over again and Mia lashed out savagely which only seemed to cause Valerie more delight. Piers yelled for Mia to stop and she only did so after getting one last strike in.

"This won't work on her," Piers said, "Masochist…they creep me out."

"What should we do then?" Mia said, loathing obvious in her voice.

"The whip might loosen my tongue." Valerie said, a yearning in her voice. "Or maybe hot candle wax."

"Shut up," Piers spat, tightening the chain around her neck, "Mia, go get one of those knives."

Her chains barely allowed it, but Mia crossed to Valerie's collection of items and picked out a knife. She moved back to Valerie and put the blade to her throat, but Valerie didn't even blink. Mia tried again at different parts of Valerie's body, but nothing seemed to phase her. In fact she only got more excited with every new location. Then Mia moved the blade to Valerie's hair and she finally got the reaction she was looking for.

"Don't you dare…" Valerie growled.

"Oh, what's that?" Mia said, mock worry in her voice, "We don't like to have our hair cut?"

"I swear to King Manhattan that you'll curse they day you were born if you touch a single hair on my head." Valerie said, a hysterical look in her eyes.

"Free us and take us to our gear and maybe I'll talk Mia out of giving you your worst hair day ever." Piers said, sharing a look with Mia.

Mia could see the gears turning in Valerie's head. Even if her Psynergy hadn't been sealed by Rime, the chains against her neck prevented her from using her power. She was utterly helpless. She sighed and came to a decision, "Look on the guards. One of them should have a key to your shackles."

Mia searched the guards and easily found a small brass key. She unlocked her own shackles first and put them on Valerie before freeing Piers.

"Well now what should we do?" Piers asked rubbing his sore wrists, "Should we take her with us?"

"We do need her to lead us to our gear." Mia said, casting a nasty look at Valerie.

"Yeah that's true." Piers said. He held his hand out towards the chain and a section of it instantly froze. He grabbed the chain on either side of the frozen section and yanked, snapping it easily. "We'll take her along with us."

Piers lead the way through the strong hold with Valerie behind him and Mia holding the chains and bringing up the rear. Valerie directed them through the halls and Piers was surprised at how few enemies they ran into. They actually didn't see any until they reached the last turn before the armory. Piers glanced around the corner and saw four guards posted around a door. He signaled for Mia to wait and marched around the corner.

Piers used his Pysergy to make a snowball and he chucked it at the nearest guard. All four yelled in surprise and turned to see Piers standing with another snowball in his hand. The guard that had been hit by the snowball chuckled held up his hand, telling his friends to leave it to him. The guard drew his sword and rushed Piers. He brought the sword up for a mighty blow, but Pier just waved his hand and a pillar of ice erupted from the floor. It struck the guard full in the stomach and Piers was more than sure that he'd broken a few ribs. He fell to the side moaning in pain and Piers took his sword from him, advancing down the hall at a walk. The remaining guards weren't as quick to attack and when Piers launched his own, they stood no chance. Piers lashed out with a combination of melee and Psynergy attacks and in less than a minute, the remaining guards lay in heaps on the ground.

Piers and Mia left Valerie tied to a heavy table in the center of the armory as they searched for their gear. Both easily find their clothes and weapons and quickly get dressed.

"Too bad," Piers laughed, as Mia pulled her shirt on over her head, "I was getting used to you being dressed liked that."

"D-Don't be stupid," Mia stuttered, blushing slightly, "Now what should we do with her?"

"You could just leave me here." Valerie said, "Not like I can do anything with my Psynergy sealed and these chains tethering me to the table."

"I have a different idea." Mia said evilly.

Ten minutes later, they left the armory with Valerie curing their names in anyway she could think of and Piers and Mia couldn't stop smiling. They had not only left her chained to the table, but had also tied her hair to the chandelier above the table. Piers and Mia made their way through the strong hold not caring if they ran into enemies and soon found their way to the main entrance. Oddly enough, no one stood guard and Piers and Mia slipped out through the thick, double, wooden doors.

They emerged into a clear day atop a mountain ridge. Snow came up to their knees and the wind nipped at their exposed skin, but Mia and Piers were happy to be free none the less. Mia took in her surroundings and guessed that they were in the mountains to the south west of Imil. They both sighed, it was going to be a long walk.

They set off toward a slope the lead down the mountain, but just as the ground began to point downward, a Mercury Djinni appeared at Piers' feet. It was the one that Piers had sent to Isaac! He scooped it up and Isaac's voice was clearly heard, "We're on our way to come get you. Sorry for taking so long."

As if on cue, Mia spotted the flying ship in the distance and in no time, it was hovering above them. They heard the crunching of snow and turned to find that Sheba had teleported down to them. She smiled at Mia and Piers and hugged them before teleporting back to the ship. Once there, Mia and Piers were hugged multiple times as they were reunited with their friends.

"So what happened?" Isaac asked once everyone has quieted down.

"Well I'm sure you know we got attacked, but then one of the Chemists, Valerie told us a bit about their plan." Piers explained how the Lighthouses had never been the targets, but the Warriors of Vale and every other Adept that used Alchemy.

"Well luckily we're all together now." Garet said, "They don't stand a chance now!"

As if in response to Garet, the fortress below them began to implode. Large chunks of rock plummeted down the face of the mountain, causing avalanches as they went. What didn't fall off the mountain remained in a large pile at the summit except for the middle which somehow had remained free of debris. In this clear spot stood a circle of Chemist around two figures. Even from this far away, Piers and Mia recognized Valerie, but the tall, bald, muscular man with her was a stranger. Valerie seemed truly terrified as the man's fingers wrapped around her slender neck and lifted her off her feet. He turned to the Warriors of Vale and his voice was heard over the wind.

"You should have ended her life when you had the chance." He said in a deep, wicked voice. "You would have eased her suffering slightly." At these words, the Warriors saw the man's Psynergy flow into his hands. The piece of leather around Valerie's neck that secured the upper part of her dress simply began to disappear. When there was no leather left, the dress fell away and was carried off by the wind. Now they could see as the man's Psynergy began to work on Valerie's naked body. Her already small neck began to flake away as if it her skin was made of sand. A horrible scream of pain erupted from her as the Psynergy began to eat away her shoulders and spread down her arms. There was no blood though, every part of her simply began to vanish. It didn't stop and neither did Valerie's scream as her body disintegrated into nothing. Even as her legs and abdominal cavity disappeared, no blood or viscera were spilt. The gruesome power continued until nothing was left but her head and the upper half of her torso. The man's Psynergy finally stopped and while still suffering, Valerie's screams reduced to mere whimpers.

"Now that they've seen my power, why don't you introduce me?" the man said to Valerie, "I left your lungs and vocal cords intact, surely you can do at least one thing right before you die?"

Tears streamed down Valerie's face and a genuine smile spread across her face as the man flung her body at the flying ship. Only now, as she was freed from the man's touch, did her blood begin to flow. She landed with a wet thud on the deck and she came to rest against one of the ship's masts. "Behold his power." She said weakly, "The power of…King Man…hattan."

With those words, Valerie's eyes lost their light and what little life she had left spilled out onto the deck.


	5. Trouble on the Horizon

The Warriors glared down at King Manhattan. Valerie had been by no means a friend, but she hadn't deserved such a gruesome death. Mia ran to Valerie's side, already knowing that it was hopeless, but tried to heal her anyway. She staunched the bleeding, but re-growing limbs was beyond Mia's power. Having done all she could, Mia closed Valerie's eyes and returned to the side of the ship.

"How could you do that?" Mia screamed down at him, "She was your friend!"

"Friend?" King Manhattan growled, "I have no need for such things. She was merely a tool that I had a use for."

"You make me sick." Garet yelled.

"Despite what you think of me, I am a man of honor." King Manhattan said, "I shall allow you to rest before I kill you. Clearly you are in no condition for a fight."

"I'm ready right now you son of a-" Garet yelled but was cut off by Isaac and Felix covering his mouth.

"I'll meet you outside Imil the day after tomorrow at noon. If you aren't there, I'll destroy every town from here to Osenia starting with Imil."

"Like you have that kind of power!" Garet roared, having broken free of Isaac and Felix's grip.

King Manhattan gave a small smirk and slowly raised his fist into the air. He paused just long enough for the Warriors to wonder what he was doing and then he brought his fist down. The ground exploded where he struck and the resulting explosion was strong enough that the flying ship was sent tumbling through the air. The Warriors clung to the ship as best they could, but poor Valerie's corpse flipped into the air and was lost to the snow winds. By the time they regained control, they were at the base of the mountain and looking back to the peak, it was easy to spot where the Chemists had just been. A large plume of smoke rose from a giant crater in the side of the mountain and avalanches came rolling down the sides of the whole mountain range. The Warriors quickly ascended to avoid the wall of snow and shared a worried look. They decided there was nothing for it and flew back towards Imil.

An hour later they were back in the inn at Imil which was in the final stages of construction. They sat in the common area amongst workers who were taking a break from the cold to warm up by the fire. The Warriors neither noticed the warmth nor paid attention to the workers as they were all deep in thought. They'd been trying to formulate a plan ever since they'd left the mountains, but none of them could think of a way to combat such destructive force. Even Flint and Echo were at a loss. They'd explained that King Manhattan couldn't only separate matter into specific elements, but that he could also break atoms down to their building blocks; weird things called quarks. He also had the ability to split atoms which explained the massive explosion back at the mountain.

"As frightening as his power is," Ivan said more to himself than the others, "It's slow…and that explosion took most of his Psynergy by what I could see. It's not likely that he can do that very often."

"If he was weak at that moment then why didn't we strike?" Garet demanded.

"Calm down Garet!" Jenna snapped, "Like he said we were in no condition to fight. Isaac and I flew all the way here from Lalivero in two nights; neither of us got much sleep. Mia and Piers had just fought their way out of a dungeon and the rest of you had been working construction for at least two days. We were no match for Manhattan _and _a group of his Chemist cohorts."

"I wasn't tired!" Garet snapped back, "I could've taken him myself and just left those grunts to you!"

"Idiot!" Sheba yelled, "No Mars Adept stands a chance against those Chemists. You know that."

"So I suppose the Jupiter Adepts want all the glory for themselves?" Garet said, a dangerous edge to his voice.

"Would you please stop screaming!?" Piers yelled, but immediately looked embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated is all. I'm going to step outside for a bit."

Piers walked swiftly from the room and leaned against an exterior wall of the inn mumbling to himself. He hated to admit it, but he was scared. For the first time since the Golden Sun event, he wasn't sure he could win a fight. He suddenly longed for his peaceful home of Lemuria, but then he remembered that his ship had been destroyed by the Chemists and anger flared up in his chest. Just then some water dripped on his head and his silent fuming came belting out as a roar of rage. He thrust his hand toward the icicle that had dripped on him and shot an icy blast of Frost Psynergy at it. As he watched the drop that had been about to drip on him elongate as it froze and reconnect to the icy stalactite. An idea began to form in Piers' mind and then he heard the construction workers talking around the corner.

"I can't wait until it's my break time." One man said. "I'm nearly frozen out here."

"Yeah it's so hard to move in this cold." Another agreed.

Piers bend down and grabbed a handful of snow, allowing it to melt in his hand. He watched as the water pooled into his hand and began to flow down his wrists when he used his Frost Pysnergy again, freezing it on the spot. Piers stared at the ice as if it was the first time he'd truly seen the stuff and rushed back inside the inn.

Two days later at noon, Isaac, Felix, Jenna and Garet all stood at the entrance to Imil. Isaac paced nervously back and forth. Where were Ivan and Sheba? He had faith in their plan, but without that Jupiter Adepts, Isaac wasn't sure how well their plan would work. Jenna touched his arm as he walked passed her and when he looked up King Manhattan and his group of thirty Chemists were marching onto the small town. King Manhattan was dressed for battle with his chest plate emblazoned with the atom symbol. His arms had been left exposed however and he wore deep purple pants tucked into black boots. He wore no head gear and his bald head glistened in the noon sun. As they approached he ordered a halt for his troops, but continued to advance himself.

"I'm pleased you decided to meet me." He said with genuine emotion. "However, since half of you are missing, I will make good on my promise after I have disposed of you four."

"Why are you doing this?" Felix asked, stepping forward.

"Your heresy cannot continue." King Manhattan said. "Only the Wise One should possess the power to control the Elements while we humans should rely on the combined power of Science and our brains. You who seek the power of God are a danger to us all and seek to over throw him rather than live peacefully with him. For this reason, you must be destroyed."

"There's no point in trying to understand him, Felix." Garet said, stepping up next to his friend, "He's insane."

"Maybe from your point of view." Manhattan said with a slight chuckle.

"We will fight." Isaac said, "Let's just do it away from the town."

King Manhattan considered this condition for a moment and agreed, leading his troops about three hundred yards away. Satisfied, the Warriors of Vale drew their weapons and awaited the enemy's move. The seconds crept pass slowly into minutes and the tension in the air began to rise. Finally King Manhattan ordered his troops to attack and they opened with a plume of deadly gasses. Jenna and Garet countered with a Searing Beam and a Flare Storm which caused the gasses to explode. From the plume of smoke, jars of acid came raining down and Felix and Isaac created earthen barriers to block the jars. The Chemists began to advance and it was all the Warriors of Vale could do protect themselves. Garet and Jenna managed a few offensive moves, but only a fraction of Manhattan's forces were felled. Even worse, every time the Chemists advanced on one of the walls that Isaac and Felix had created, King Manhattan would punch it. His explosive Psynergy was much weaker, but it still threatened to blow them away. Soon the Warriors had been pushed to Mercury Lighthouse and they stood behind a final earthen barrier with their backs to a cliff that fell into the freezing ocean waters. King Manhattan called a halt of the attack and advanced to ten feet from the final barrier.

"I confess myself disappointed, Warriors of Vale." He yelled, "Haven't you learned that Venus and Mars Adepts are ill suited to fight against us? I also suppose that by luring me here, you hope that I won't use my Atomic Pysergy for fear of damaging Mercury Lighthouse? What a pitiful strategy. I trust you realize that you are on a peninsula…now there is no escape for you."

King Manhattan raised his fist for a real atomic explosion and brought his fist down, but nothing happened. Confused, Manhattan looked at the ground and found that it's frozen solid. This didn't make any sense though; even frozen, the Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms in the water could still be split. As if in answer to his question, Mia, Piers, Ivan and Sheba appeared from behind a snow drift. Ivan and Sheba looked normal, but Mia and Piers were glowing. Their normal blue hair was streaked with silver, snowflakes formed around their bodies as they moved and steam billowed from their palms. The two Mercury Adepts advanced on the Chemists while the Jupiter kept their distance.

"We admit that we lure you here, but not for that reason." Mia said, a strange echo in her voice as if someone was speaking in unison with her.

"What have you done?" King Manhattan demanded, "Why won't my power work?"

"Simple, it's hard for things to move when they're cold." Piers said with the same echo. "We discovered that even atoms feel the same way and if they get cold enough, no amount of force will cause them to move."

"Y-you don't mean Absolute Zero do you? There's no way mere humans can be capable of Psynergy like that."

"You'd be surprised what you're capable of if you let Djinn absorb Psynergy straight from the Lighthouse's Beacon." Mia said, a smile spreading across her face.

King Manhattan looked unsure, but turned to his men and yelled, "They may look different, but they're still just Mercury Adepts, get them!"

The Chemists laughed, remembering how easily they had beaten Mia and Piers before. One of them lobbed a hunk of Sodium at Piers who simply caught it. The black substance was instantly covered in ice and Piers easily crushed it in his hands. The Chemists faltered slightly but attacked with poisonous gases that surrounded Piers and Mia. They paid them no mind as the gases froze in midair and fell as solids at their feet. The Chemists switched back to the bottles of acid, but similarly, the acid froze before it could melt anything. Finally the chemists attacked with melee, but they were met with two powerful blasts of Blizzard Psynergy and every Chemist became a brittle, frozen statue.

"N-No! Mercury Adepts should not be able to stand up to the might of the Chemists." King Manhattan growled. He leapt into the air and aimed a punch at the center of the Chemists, "If these weaklings can't even handle two Mercury Adepts, they don't deserve to live."

His fist hit the ground, but again the ground was frozen to Absolute Zero. This time however, his fist had been caught up in the Psynergy and began to freeze along with the ground. He screamed in pain as the water in his blood expanded as it froze and tore the flesh apart. He stared down at the mangled remains of his hand and tried to yank it free, but only succeeded in breaking his hand off at the wrist. He stared at the frozen stump and adrenaline began to course through his veins. Pain meant nothing to him now; only destroying these two heretics. His eyes shifted from Mia to Piers, sizing them up. If he could just grab one of them, then it would be simple to tear them apart atom by atom. He rushed forward with his good arm at Piers, but Mia stepped between the two and trapped Manhattan's good arm. All he could do was watch as his arm froze where Mia's impossibly cold hands touched him. The nerves in his arms began to die and he couldn't even try to grab Mia to disintegrate her. Mia moved closer removing one hand from Manhattan's arm and hovering it over his heart.

"My name is Mia." She said with a cold fury, "I am one of the last surviving members of the Mercury Clan. It is my duty to watch over Mercury Lighthouse and the people of Imil. In the name of my Clan, I shall strike down all those who endanger those in my care. Do you have any last words?"

King Manhattan gave Mia a look of disgust and tried to wrench his arm away from Mia. It broke at the bicep and Mia was so shocked by this, that she couldn't react to dodge Manhattan's attack. He lashed out with a mighty kick, barely missing her stomach, but tearing through her left breast and chin. Mia screams in pain and stumbles backwards and blood flows freely across her clothes and down her body.

"I missed…your vital organs…that time," King Manhattan between heavy breaths, "Won't happen…next time."

"THERE WON'T BE A NEXT TIME ASSHOLE!" Mia screamed in blind fury as she lashed out with vicious melee attacks. Piers roared in fury as well and he and Mia struck with all their hearts, trying just to touch Manhattan again. Soon the pure white of the snow is stained scarlet by Mia's blood and they have Manhattan cornered on a beach. All three are breathing heavily and the silver has left both Piers and Mia's hair.

"Looks like you two are out of your Absolute Zero Psynergy." Manhattan laughs.

"Won't know until we try." Mia says through gritted teeth.

Manhattan smirks and kicks sand into Mia and Piers' faces before casting his Atomic Psynergy by stomping. Mia and Piers both try to cast they Absolute Zero Psynergy, but it's already too weak and the sand in the air blocks most of it. They watch in horror as Manhattan's foot collides with the sandy ground, but then keeps going all the way to his thigh. The sand suddenly compresses around Manhattan's leg trapping him. He looks on the verge of hysteria, but tried to stomp with his other foot only to have it suffer the same fate. He was now buried to his waist in sand and all he could do was curse their faces and demand how they had done this. Mia and Piers, however, were just as clueless.

"Good thing I showed up, eh?" Felix said as he materialized out of the sand. "Glad I picked that Psynergy up back at Gaia Rock."

"Felix!" Piers said, completely dumbfounded.

"Yep. I saw you three down here and shifted the sand under his feet so that he'd pass through rather than hit it. Then I moved it back so that he'd be restrained by it."

"That's amazing, Felix." Mia said.

"Mia!" Felix exclaimed, finally looking at her properly, "Here let me heal you!"

"Let me." Piers said, "I have one super charged Djinni left. Thankfully it's Surge."

As Piers healed Mia, the other five Warriors came running down to meet them. Sheba and Ivan look completely worn out, but Isaac, Jenna and Garet, while suffering minor acid burns here and there, seem fine. They see the last of Mia's wounds heal before their eyes leaving only small scars and she quickly covers herself, telling the boys not to look. They all turn around respectfully, if a little sheepishly, as Jenna and Sheba help re-arrange Mia's clothes. Finally decent again, Garet moves closer to Mia unable to contain himself any longer.

"You were awesome, Mia!" he said gesticulating wildly, "I've never seen such powerful Mercury Psynergy."

"It was Piers' idea." Mia said, blushing slightly, "and we wouldn't have been able to do it without Ivan and Sheba backing us up too."

"I had that idea last minute." Sheba said. "We let out Jupiter Djinn absorb some Mercury Psynergy as well since Air and Water share a symbolic link like Earth and Fire. Then we used our super charged Jupiter Psynergy to boost their super charged Mercury Psynergy and boom, Absolute Zero as that guy called it."

"Finally remembered that I'm here?"

"Never forgot you were here for a moment." Mia said coldly. "What should we do with him?"

"He won't survive long once his arms thaw." Ivan said, making a sick face at that idea.

"We could just cauterize the limbs so prevent blood loss." Jenna offered.

"We won't be able to prevent him from using his Pysnergy though," Sheba said, "Our Psynergy seals are good, but they don't last forever."

"That really just leaves on option." Isaac said, darkly.

"How does that make you any better than me?" Manhattan asked. "Destroying me because you don't like me?"

"I've had enough!" Mia snapped. "I'm ending this now."

As Mia spoke she summoned her last super charged Djinni and used it to freeze Manhattan in a pillar of ice. He had frozen so quickly that it hadn't even registered on his face. Using her Pysnergy she called on the ocean to rise and soon the water was carrying the frozen pillar out to see. It drifted out about twenty feet before the water around the pillar began to freeze as well, encasing King Manhattan in the heart of an ice berg. It drifted further out to sea and soon King Manhattan's ice berg could not be distinguished from the thousands of others that already floated in the salt waters. Satisfied, Mia turned back to her friends who were all staring at her.

"What?" she said.

"I don't know if that was the right thing to do…" Isaac said.

"There was nothing else we could do." Garet said light heartedly. "Besides, this way if we need to find him again, we'll know where to start looking."

"I don't know…" Isaac said, still unconvinced.

"I…I agree with Garet." Piers said. "He was too dangerous to keep alive and I think Mia did the right thing."

The others slowly agreed and Isaac realized he'd been out voted. They slowly made their way back to Imil and found that the town had been completely repaired. They stayed at the inn and for the first time in what felt like forever, shared a relaxing night together. They joked and laughed and it was almost as if the events of the last week hadn't happened at all. As the moon began to rise high into the night sky, Mia decided to go to bed first and she bid the others a good night.

She left the inn and walked passed two streets before coming to her house. She unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was exactly as she had left it when she and Piers had left for Colosso. She moved through her spacious living room and lit fire. Mia huddled in front of the fire for a moment and then went to her bedroom. She selected her favorite sleeping gown and began to undress. She took off her shirt and hesitantly looked in the mirror. She moved closer, but only when she really focused could she see the scars on her chin and left breast. She ran her fingers across the faint white lines and finally decided not to let them bother her. She had just pulled her night gown over her head when she heard a knock at the door.

"Coming!" Mia yelled as she walked towards the door. She opened it and found Piers standing there looking a little worried. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened," Piers said, his eyes scanning her face, "Something just seemed off when you left."

"I'm fine, Piers." Mia said, smiling, "Thank you for your concern though."

"Are you sure?" he said gently touching the scar on Mia's chin.

"I'm sure." She said taking his hand into hers and gently moving it away from her scar.

"Do you mind if I come in?"

"I'm really in no state to entertain." Mia said apologetically.

"Please, Mia?"

"Piers what is it?" Mia said, getting a little irritated.

"I-I…I love you…Mia."

All Mia could do was stare at Piers who seemed very preoccupied with his feet at the moment. Sure she knew they were close, but she'd never expected this. She wouldn't deny she had feelings for Piers as well, but they were nowhere near love. Had he felt this way all along? Maybe he'd been dropping hints for a while now and she simply hadn't noticed.

"Where…where is this coming from?" Mia asked.

"I realized it at the battle…when you got kicked and I saw your blood spill onto the ground…I thought I'd lost you." Piers' voice shook with every word and tears began to pool in his eyes, "All I could think was, I'll never get to see Mia again and that broke my heart."

Mia was at a loss for words. She'd never seen the tough sailor Piers break down like this. She slowly wrapped her arms around Piers and pulled him into a hug. He returned the gesture and after a while he seemed to calm down. Mia released him and held Piers at arm's length, "Piers, I care for you, I truly do, but I can't honestly say that my feelings are the same as yours."

Piers stared at her with tearful eyes for a moment, then wiped his eyes and backed away from Mia, "Thank you for telling me that…I'll be going now."

Mia watched as Piers slowly walked back in the direction of the inn.

The next day Isaac, Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Garet stood on the flying ship ready to take off. Ivan stood on the shore with Mia seeing them off. Piers hadn't been seen since last night but none of his Djinn had shown up with an emergency message so no one was too worried. With the final preparations taken care of, the five Warriors moved to the railing to say good-bye.

"You sure you don't want to come back with us?" Garet asked.

"I'm sure." Mia said, smiling, "Mercury Lighthouse is still my responsibility."

"I have to go where the wind takes me." Ivan said, chuckling.

"Suit yourselves." Garet said laughing, "More Tolbi girls for me."

"Keep in touch." Sheba said.

"Take care of our Djinn." Mia replied.

Each of the Warriors gave a final wave and then Isaac placed his hand on the Black Orb. The ship's wings started to beat in a steady rhythm and the ship rose smoothly out of the water. Isaac nudged the ship forward so that it glided over Imil's harbor and was ready to jump to full speed when they heard a voice calling out.

"WAIT! ISAAC!"

Isaac slowed the ship to a stop and everyone glanced over the starboard stern to see Piers running down a pier. He leapt into the water and used his Psynergy to create a geyser that shot him skyward. He lightly landed on the deck with a bag over his shoulder and a broad grin on his face.

"Mind if I tag along?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

"Where were you?" everyone demanded.

"Yeah, sorry. I had to clear my head about some things. I want to go back with you guys though. I want to go one some missions and help people around the world."

Just then one of Mia's Djinn appeared on the deck and they heard Mia's voice ask, "Was that Piers?"

Piers scooped the Djinni up and smiled at it, "Yeah it's me Mia. Sorry about last night." The Djinni hopped off of Piers' hand and fell over the railing back towards Mia. Piers turned back to his friends and was met with a unanimous look of confusion. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing." Piers mumbled.

Everyone looked at Mia who waved even more vigorously now and they decided to drop it. Isaac pushed the ship forward again and once they were over open waters, he pushed it to greater speeds. The ship gained altitude and when Isaac turned the ship southwest, they were higher than any mountain. From here it was a straight shot for Tolbi and with six Adepts on board, the trip would only take about a day. They day passed much faster this time for Isaac and Jenna and before they knew it, they were landing in the Karagoal Sea. They pulled the ship into the dock reserved specifically for them and disembarked for Tolbi.

Everything was the same as they had left it and once again, Isaac felt slightly oppressed by the hustle and bustle of the big city. They made their way through the crowded streets toward their guild and were surprised to see Tolbi guards standing in front of it. As they approach the guards notice them and run to meet them.

"What's the problem, sir?" Isaac asks.

"Come with us. Lord Babi wants to see you immediately."

"Why?" Felix asked, "What's going on?"

"Lalivero has issued a bounty on Isaac and Jenna. The Mayor of Lalivero has demanded that Lord Babi turn you over or his troops will attack Tobli."

Author's note:

I'm sure it's obvious, but King Manhattan was named after the Manhattan project otherwise known as the Atomic Bomb project. Just for anyone thinking that it was my favorite city. Never been there so I have no opinion on the place.


End file.
